Is 90 Percent Off a Good Deal?

By Kent Greenawalt

The next time you buy something, wouldn't you like to save 90 percent? Only paying a small portion of the cost yet receiving the full benefit sounds like an offer no one could refuse. That's the offer the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress (FCP) is making you.

When you donate to the FCP, you get 100 percent of the benefits while only paying a fraction of the overall cost involved.

That means regardless of what you donate, it becomes worth millions of dollars in positive press for chiropractic. The more the profession grows, the more patients you see in your office, making the return on your investment unlimited!

Where We've Been

The mission of the FCP is to generate positive press for the profession. In addition to placing monthly advertisements in national publications such as Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, Sports Illustrated and Health. CPR Communications, a PR agency, also generates positive press for chiropractic. With more than 25 years of experience working with the media, CPR has generated exciting positive press to complement the profession's advertising campaign. Estimates show the campaign had a monetary value of approximately $3.5 million in equivalent advertising dollars.

The foundation also prepares advertorials that are a major part of its PR print campaign and are disseminated to more than 10,000 newspapers in the country. Designed to look like independent news stories, these are favorites of editors at numerous newspapers across the country. The first advertorial on fitness ran in newspapers with a combined circulation of 2.5 million subscribers. In September 2007, an advertorial on backpack safety ran, resulting in more than 660 articles in 32 different states, with a combined circulation of over 43 million.

Combining the press from the magazine ads, the advertorials and a TV commercial, the foundation has distributed more than 250 million positive messages to the public about chiropractic! What's more, this number does not include coverage generated from press releases or public service announcements being aired by more than150 radio stations. One press release in particular resulted in a front-page headline in a Seattle paper.

While the amount of media is significant, it doesn't come close to the constant drumbeat of pro-drug advertising that besieges the public every day. The number of people who have made the decision to see a chiropractor is growing and will continue to grow with your help. Help the foundation continue to increase the number of positive messages by participating as a monthly contributor and help unlock the best kept secret in health care.

Where We're Going

Runners say the hardest part of a marathon is the first step. We already have taken quite a few steps, but together we have much farther to go before we cross the finish line. In 2008, the foundation is building on the success of last year. The success generated by our positive press campaign provides good reason for putting more of our resources and focus on generating free, positive messages. The emphasis on print and radio media will be expanded to include television as we continue to pursue positive messages. We plan to develop two advertorials for television stations and will consider creating a video news release (VNR). A VNR is a video segment provided to television news stations by an organization for the purpose of informing, shaping public opinion, or promoting and publicizing individuals, commercial products and services, or other interests. In other words, VNRs are video versions of press releases.

The foundation's PR campaign is the longest continuous PR campaign in the history of the profession. Every dollar received from vendors and doctors will go directly to the campaign. We invite you to join the foundation and build on the positive press we've already generated.

How to Get There

You can't build a house with just one brick. It takes many bricks lined side by side to build a solid structure. One donation will help, but that alone won't build the house. It takes brick after brick to complete the task at hand. That is why we can't carry out this kind of large-scale campaign without your help. A one-time donation of $25 or $100 won't be enough to keep this positive press effort rolling.

Remember, you are making an investment in your profession that affects you each day. Watch your donation grow into part of a $3.5 million effort to bring more positive press to chiropractic. A monthly donation, even if it amounts to a few dollars a day, is what it takes to keep a continuous campaign moving forward. To continue the positive messages about chiropractic, every chiropractor who wants to see a change for the better must support the FCP.

Don't keep your money under the mattress. Invest it in something that affects you every day. Join the FCP today and see chiropractic grow in a new, positive direction. Doctors just like you make a difference and every investment will work together to achieve a common goal. When we all join the same cause, we can yield greater returns on this investment than anyone can alone. To learn more about the FCP or to arrange an automatic monthly donation, visit www.foundation4CP.com or call us at (866) 901-3427.

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